Who Obama should NOT appoint

Right off the bat is Bill Richardson for Sec. of State. This surprised me. I’d been under the impression that Richardson had good credentials. But not according to Noah:

State Department. Do not appoint Bill Richardson, who by some accounts is the front-runner. Obama may feel he owes Richardson because the New Mexico governor endorsed him after dropping out of the presidential race and ended up being called a “Judas” by James Carville. But Richardson took his sweet time before embracing Obama; he dropped out in mid-January and didn’t cough up the endorsement until late March. Richardson’s résumé includes Clinton administration stints as energy secretary and as U.N. ambassador. He didn’t perform either job particularly well. As energy secretary, Richardson rashly accused Los Alamos official Wen Ho Lee of espionage—a charge later proved false. As U.N. ambassador, Richardson didn’t do anything anyone can remember except offer Monica Lewinsky a job three months before the story of her affair with President Clinton hit the Internet. “He has no great beliefs,” observedSlate‘s David Plotz in June 2000, “which may be why he didn’t mind flattering despots.” Richardson has twice broken the world’s record for most handshakes in an eight-hour period. He’s very proud of this. Don’t you find that alarming?

This gives me pause (not that anyone gives a rat’s backside what I do and do not pause for), especially the point about Richardson taking his sweet time about endorsing Obama. Clearly he was biding his time, in case it turned out that Hilary won the nomination and thus the White House. Of course, Richardson is a politcian and those creatures do such things, but if Obama is going to be a “different kind of politician” perhap he should consider cutting Billy loose. Didn’t someone suggest Richard Lugar, Republican from Indiana, for this post?

Noah doesn’t like John Kerry for anything, which is hard to argue with.

Also, I too can’t see Hilary on the Supreme Court.

It seems like a good idea to retain Robert Gets as SoD. Unlike Noah, I don’t really consider him a Bushie. Not like Rummy anyway. And anyway, I wouldn’t think it should be permanent. Eventually Obama could replace Gates with Hagel. I just want Hagel in there somewhere.

This article would be better if it actually offered suggestions for perhaps who Obama should consider. Criticism is fine, but without construction it just leaves rubble in it’s wake. And what good is that?

I was actually a fan of Bill Richardson until he made some remark about wanting to divert water away from the Great Lakes to the southwest. This can be a pretty touchy issue for us in the Great Lakes region. I’ve heard this sort of glib assumption before, that because the southwest needs water they should simply be allowed to suck it out of the Great Lakes. I always say, hey, great, it’s a deal, as soon as you can find a way to export dry warm weather to Michigan in the midde of January. Also, I figure, hey, a lack of water is part of the deal when you decided LIVE IN THE DESERT.

Perhaps this seems like a petty argument. But it is not. In the coming years the resource most fought over is going to be water. Michigan may be in poor economic straights now but it is the proximity to water that will always be our salvation. Or something like that.

Andway, when Bill made that point, I lost any love I had for the guy. I don’t hate him. I think he’s okay, but I’m not sure he should be Sec. of State. But I certainly don’t want him in any position that could give him some kind of authority over the Great Lakes.

I’m not sure I’m hot on John Kerry either, who is apparently lobbying hard for the job. But he did come out and support Obama a lot sooner than Richardson did. So he’s got that going for him.

I like Chuck Hagel, although I’m sure many Dems would take issue with appointing a Republican to a post that is so close in line of succession to the Presidencty. But really, what are the chances of that being significant? Also, Obama may want to save Hagel to replace of Bill Gates at Sec. Of Defense. A lot of people seem to think it is a good idea to keep Gates on, at least for a time.

Finally, the beard is a little icky. Reminds me too much of Todd Palin, the first dude. Blah!